Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
by when the lights go out
Summary: Massie's popularity rises. That is, until Derrick breaks her heart. Massie's perfect little kingdom comes crashing down on her as she falls to pieces. Over a year later, someone decided to pick up the pieces of Massie's broken heart.
1. Pouring Rain

**A/N: Randomly came up when I was  
watching a movie and listening to an  
Offspring album. (Rise And Fall, Rage and Grace)  
and a Rise Against album. (Appeal to Reason)  
Hope you like. And I have no idea  
why I keep coming up with new stories when  
I haven't finished my first fanfic yet. Haha,  
whatevs. Read & Review. Happy Birthday, Tiffany.**

**Disclaimer: Lisi Owns.**

**. . .**

**Ready To Fall**

**. . .**

Massie Block was alone, sitting at Table 13 in the Café of Briarwood Academy. She wasn't even glancing towards Table 18 where the popular girls sat. Where her ex-best friends sat. She used to be one of them. She snorted. How could that ever be possible? If you compared old Massie with new Massie, you would have never guessed that they were the same person at all. She didn't have any friends here. Nor did she want any. They were too complicated, too clingy.

She glanced around the room. Everywhere everyone was sitting with their friends, laughing and smiling. All wearing designer clothes, wasting their money like it just popped up out of the ground. Massie looked away in disgust. She glanced towards the boys' table. Her eyes flickered to Derrick for a moment and saw that he was staring intently at her. She quickly looked away. She became too close to him. She loved him so much. He hurt her so much when they broke up. He shattered her heart. And she fell so hard. Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them away before someone saw them.

At Table 18, Alicia, Claire, Dylan and Kristen were looking at Massie with the same kind of disgust on her face.

"What a loser." Alicia said.

"She has no friends." Dylan said.

"Why do you guys care so much about Massie?" Claire asked.

"We don't." Alicia replied.

"Then why do you guys keep talking about her?" Claire asked.

"You don't…miss her, do you?" Kristen asked.

Alicia, Dylan and Claire looked at each other. Then burst out laughing.

"You are just too funny, Kris." Alicia said.

"Yeah, why would we miss Massie Block?" Dylan smiled.

"Never mind." Kristen said, looking away.

Kristen couldn't believe her friends. How could they _not_ miss Massie? She's what kept everyone from becoming who they were now.

Alicia still loved Ralph Lauren, but she was such a whore. And she always tried to hard to be what Massie used to be.

Dylan still loved to eat, but no one was ever there to tell her that she wasn't fat so she became bulimic, in secret and only Kristen knew.

Claire loved Cam. And she was obsessed with him. Everywhere they go, 'I miss Cam' or 'I wish Cam was here' it was so annoying.

And Kristen was the same, only she kept mostly to herself. Sure, she talked to her 'friends' when they talked to her, but only because she didn't want her social life ruined.

But she still desperately wanted to be friends with Massie.

Massie was so different now. She only wore designer clothes when they matched her new punk-like style, she didn't hang out with the girls that wore too much designer like Alicia. Kristen knew that she didn't want to face her past.

At Derrick's table, the boys were all looking at Derrick when he turned back around.

"What?" He asked.

"Why do you keep staring at Massie?" Cam asked.

Derrick just looked at him.

"Yeah, do you like…still love her or something?" Kemp asked.

"No." Derrick flushed. "I just…she looks lonely."

"Oh, gee, I wonder why." Josh snickered, shooting Derrick a glare.

Derrick shot him a hateful glare.

Josh put his hands up.

"Dude, you did this to her, not me so don't be trying to come at me." Josh said, glaring back just as hatefully.

Derrick just shook his head.

"Whatever." Derrick said.

Derrick put his head down, remembering that day.

**Flashback.**

_It was pouring rain outside and Massie's Marc Jacob clad feet were getting soaked, but she waited for Derrick anyway. She was standing under a tree in the park for cover as he approached her._

"_Hey," she chirped happily as he showed up. She threw her arms around his shoulders, ready for a kiss, when he pulls her arms off of him._

"_What's wrong?" Massie asks him._

"_I…I think that we should break up." He says._

"_Why?" Massie asked, thankful for the rain so that Derrick couldn't see the tears leaking out of her kohl rimmed eyes._

"_Look, you're a great girl and all, but…I like someone else." Derrick said._

_Massie looked down._

"_Can you at least tell me who it is before you leave me?" Massie asked quietly._

"_Alicia." Derrick answered._

"_But…she's with Josh." Massie said._

"_No, she broke up with him for me…this morning." Derrick said._

"_Oh." Was all that Massie managed to get out of her glossed lips._

"_I'm sorry." Derrick said._

_Massie looked up to him._

"_I'll always love you, Derrick." She whispered._

_She got on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips._

_Derrick felt a bolt of electricity go throughout his body and he started to regret his decision._

"_Goodbye." She said, not daring to turn back and face him in case he saw her pained expression. She was ready to fall. And she fell hard._

_And he watched her until the mist and fog engulfed his vision and swallowed her._

_He only let a single tear slip down his cheek._

**End Flashback.**

Derrick had always regretted breaking up with Massie, but he could never muster up the courage to ask her out again. He was afraid of getting rejected. That night, he stayed with Alicia and they hung out and kissed, but it wasn't the kind of kiss that he shared with Massie. Alicia's kisses felt cold a foreign to him. He didn't love her. After a week of being with Alicia, he broke it off because he couldn't stand all of her nagging.

Massie was never like that.

That night, Massie quit being friends with Alicia as well as Claire and Dylan who knew about this and didn't tell her. She cried her eyes out to Kristen, but after a while, she cut herself off from her too. In fact, she cut herself off from everyone. She quit wearing all the stupid expensive clothing and dressed herself in clothes that would make her seem invisible so that when she wanted to, she could simply slip into the shadows and disappear. But she always wore that hurt expression.

And Derrick always knew that he was the reason why.

**. . .**

**What do you think?  
I'll probably update…sooner or later.  
I won't be able to until Saturday.  
Sorry. And I'm debating whether or not  
to have a beta reader for this story.  
So if your interested, tell me and I'll  
decide whether or not i want !**

**xoxo_*OOTF!  
**


	2. Ophelia

**A/N: **Okay guys, I've bee gone from the Clique fics for a really long time and for that, I'm sorry, but the Clique is starting to bore me and stuff. The new stories are sort of…dull. They've either been done before, or they just suck. I'm sorry if I offend you or something, but I miss some of the old people on here who sort of quit like Until The Very End formally known as the wonderful Wingzz. But I'm still here and I'm ready to keep writing because my English teacher tells me I'm a good writer. But it might take me a while to update because I'm very busy and I place my Harry Potter fics above the Clique. Clique prequel October 27th. This is not a Massington. It's a Cassie. I think.

Hah. My English teacher has one blue eye and one green eye/

**Currently Listening To: **Sky Diver –Owl City

**Owl City is my current obsession.**

**. . .**

Massie Block was sitting alone in the corner of the English room. No one was there yet, which didn't surprise her. Everybody usually showed up about 10 seconds before the starting bell rang.

She bent down over her Volcom tote and took out her purple notebook.

This is where she liked to write her stories that would never be finished, but would always help her to escape the painful reality.

This was the place where she wrote herself a happy ending that would never be true.

_And Massie Block and Derrick Harrington lived happily ever after._

"Hey, what's that?" A voice asked from behind her.

Massie slammed her notebook shut.

"Nothing." Masse said. "What the hell do you want?"

"My bad, I was just curious." The boy said.

Massie looked over her shoulder to see one blue eye and one green eye looking back at her.

Massie rolled her eyes at him.

All of the boys, Cam, Kemp, Josh and Plovert, followed their ever-so-annoying leader, Derrick Harrington and stopped talking to Massie after the two broke up.

"What do you want, Fisher?" Massie asked coldly.

"Nothing really. I was just…" Cam looked at the doorway nervously. "I heard that we're working on _Hamlet_ this quarter and we're working in groups, but we need a girl to play Ophelia and Josh, Kemp and Plovert are not up for it, so can you be her? Derrick's not in this class with us so…"

"Why don't you ask _Claire_?" Massie asked. "She is your girlfriend, after all."

Cam looked at the doorway again.

"Well…she's sort of getting on my nerves…" Cam said.

He glanced at Massie, who looked into his face with her expressionless and pale face.

"Please? You don't have anyone else to work with anyway!" Cam said.

Massie sighed.

But what he was saying was true.

She had no one to work with and she didn't want to be stuck in some loser's group.

But it's not like she wanted to work with Cam and them either.

"What about Strawberry?" Massie asked.

"She moved two months ago." Cam said.

"Kori?" Massie tried.

"Is not in this class." Cam replied.

"Olivia?" Massie tried again.

"Claire's best friend." Cam said.

She looked at him with disgust before answering.

"Fine." She muttered.

Cam smiled widely.

"Great!" He said before turning around and walking away from her, leaving her all alone again.

Massie rested her head on her desk for another 30 seconds before the teacher and Claire walked in.

"Okay class." The teacher, Mr. O'Donnell said. "Today we'll be starting something very exciting!"

The whole class, minus Massie, groaned.

Whenever Mr. O'Donnell thought something was fun, it usually wasn't.

Massie, on the other hand, loved whatever Mr. O'Donnell did because she liked reading all the stories that he assigned.

It helped her escape the grasp of reality.

"Today, we'll be starting _Hamlet_ and I want all of you to do a little role-playing. I want four groups of five. There _must_ be a girl in your group, because I will not tolerate boys making fun of Ophelia." Mr. O'Donnell said.

The boys sniggered.

"Grab your books and let's get started." He said.

Everyone but Massie got up.

She wasn't about to get up to go over to Cam and the other boys, they would have to come over to her.

"Cam!" Claire shouted.

"Yeah?" Cam asked.

"Where are we going to sit?" Claire asked.

"Oh." Cam replied.

He laughed nervously.

"I already have a group." Cam said.

"I know silly." Claire smiled. "You and the boys plus a girl, me!"

Cam glanced around nervously.

"Well…not exactly." Cam said.

Claire's bright blue eyes darkened.

"What?" She asked.

"I, um…already have a girl in our group." Cam said.

"Who?" Claire asked.

"M-Massie." Cam replied.

Claire's eyes narrowed as she glared at Massie.

"Why are you choosing her over me? Are you breaking up with me?" Claire asked, on the verge of tears.

"No! I'm not breaking up with you, it's just that…Plovert wanted her to be in our group and already asked her." Cam lied.

"Whatevs. I don't really care anyway." Claire said before she walked off in search of a group.

Cam sighed, relieved.

The boys walked over to Massie's desk because she obviously wasn't moving.

"Ready?" Plovert asked.

They all looked at Massie with curiosity. They hadn't really looked at her since the break up and she looked way different now.

She was different in a pretty kind of way.

Her brown hair was nice and wavy. Her amber eyes had somehow become a bit darker, which added an exotic look to her. She was a bit paler, but she looked like she glowed.

She looked like a carefree teenage girl.

Massie wasn't even paying attention when they started. And soon enough, they weren't even talking about Hamlet anymore.

Massie could feel Claire's eyes glaring into the back of her head, but it's not like she cared.

She just wanted to escape into one of her many stories and be relieved from the rough grip of reality.

**. . .**

**Sorry it's a bit short.  
I need to update some HP fics.  
Thanks for reading.  
Review!**

**Ciao.**


	3. In Search of Adventure and Breakups

**A/N: **Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure. Luna Lovegood is my idol. I've been updating for the Clique more and more. Check out my new story _the Gossip Girls_ co-authored with **Fanfictiontastic, xjgege, Haloxoxo, Kai-Xcrunner4life** and **Braidedtissues. **

Thank you, to all who reviewed and waited. I love anything and everything _Marc Jacobs_.

& Massington will not be happening in this story. Sorry to all Massington fans, please do not hate me.

**Currently:** listening to 'Collide' by Howie Day. I'm addicted. Also, I stole a bunch of cream cheese filled pastries and am hiding in the basement, writing this chapter. Lolx.

*

The bell signaling the end of the day rolled around and Massie escaped to her locker, shoving her notebooks, pens and various textbooks inside her Marc Jacobs _Mouse_ tote, her skinny stud Marc Jacobs bracelet scraping the metal locker as she took her tote out of it. She hated coming to school. Not because it was boring, but because of all of the stupid people. She hated pretty much everyone here, wasting all their parents' money and acting like they were so much better than everyone else in the world when they really just sucked ass.

Thank Gawd that she had finally been de-throned by Alicia and got out of being such a designer-turd.

She was almost to the exit of Briarwood Academy when she heard the retarted, high-pitched giggling of the former Pretty Committee. Ugh, what a stupid name, and to think _she_ came up with it.

_Walk faster and you may be lucky enough to get hit by a car so that you don't have to see those dumb bitches anymore,_ Massie thought to herself, quickening her already fast pace.

Too slow.

"Ew, is that _Massie Block_?" Alicia shouted across the hall.

"Ew, I think it is!" Claire squealed.

"Didn't she wear those skinny jeans twice already this week?" Dylan shouted loudly so that massie could hear them all insulting her. Or at least, thinking that they were. "She's such a loser!"

Was this really the best they could do since they had ditched her?

This was pathetic.

"She tried to steal Cam away from Kuh-laire today in Lit!" Dah-livia said.

"Ehmagawd!" they all cried.

"It didn't work though, because Cam totally left her all alone," Claire said quickly.

To be brutally honest, Massie thought that even Alicia didn't believe Claire about that, because Alicia had known that Claire was getting really obsessive and annoying and that Cam was going to break up with her soon.

_Oh look, a truck. Too bad it didn't crash into the school, _Massie thought.

Massie thought that it was weird that Kristen had not said anything to insult her yet, although Kristen Gregory had never been one to insult Massie Block.

"Aw, Massie likes Cam!" Alicia said, "Ah-gain. How pathetic."

"I know, she's probably trying to bring you down," Dylan suggested.

"Probably," Kristen muttered almost inaudibly, not wanting to bad-mouth her old best friend to her new "friends."

"At least she's over Derrington," Dylan muttered.

Massie knew that Dylan had always liked Derrick, but she had never really thought anything of it. Dylan was super pissed when she found out about Alicia and Derrick, but she didn't show it, knowing that Alicia would probably crush her social life along with Massie's.

But it's not like Massie cared.

"Or pretending to be," Olivia said.

"I bet she's trying to take over, ah-gain. Even though _no one _likes her. She's such a pathetic LBR," Alicia replied.

_Whatever,_ Massie thought.

They were acting so pathetic. It almost made her sick.

*

Cam sat on the front steps of Briarwood Academy with his friends, Derrick Harrington, Chris Plovert and Josh Hotz. Kemp Hurley had gone to the dentist to get his braces off, finally.

"So how are you and _Kuh-laire_?" Derrick asked Cam, mimicking Alicia's annoying voice.

Cam just glared.

"Dude, don't even ask!" Cam replied.

"Why not? Trouble in paradise, Cammy Boy?" Plovert asked.

"No, she's just…she is too clingy," Cam admitted.

"We all knew that, Cam, what took you so long to see that? You've been together for a long ass time now," Josh said.

"I don't know. I though that I loved her, and I guess that I don't," Cam replied glumly.

Derrick snickered.

"I'm bored," Plovert said.

"Aren't we all?" Josh asked.

"I wish something would happen," Cam said.

And with that, the doors to Briarwood Academy flew open and Massie Block walked out.

Derrick stared at her with a burning passion in his chest. Massie looked liked she had just walked out of a photo shoot with her hair blowing wildly around her face, her eyes dark and exotic, the air around her, toxic. She turned to see him staring at her and threw him a disgusted look. She glanced uncomfortably at the rest of the boys sitting in her way.

The didn't look like they were going to move anytime soon, so they just all stared at each other stupidly in silence.

"Hey Massie," Cam said, breaking the uneasy silence.

Massie glanced at him.

"Hi, Cam," she said.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Well, I was on my way home, your girlfriend and her air-headed friends are headed this way and I was hoping there was a semi-truck nearby," Massie replied.

"Why?" Plovert asked.

"So that it would run me over," Massie answered nonchantly.

"Why would you want that?" Cam asked.

"Suicidal since we broke up, Massie?" Derrick asked cockily.

Massie glared at Derrick.

"You wish, Harrington," she looked over at Cam, "because, Cam, your girlfriend hates me for 'trying to take you away from her' and they are just soo fucking annoying. I can't stand them."

"I second that!" Josh laughed.

"Don't encourage her," Derrick growled at Josh.

Massie just rolled her eyes.

"Well, I've got to go. The stupid ditzy bitches are coming, later Cam," Massie said before slipping away.

The front doors to Briarwood Academy opened up again and the 'Pretty Committee' came out.

"Hey Cam!" Claire chirped happily.

"Ugh," Cam muttered.

Derrick, Plovert and Josh laughed at him.

"What? Are you not happy to see me or something?" Claire asked worriedly.

"No, that has nothing to do with it," Cam answered quickly.

"Is this because of Massie? You don't _like_ her do you?" Claire asked, "Ehmagawd! You do! You do, you do, you do!"

"Jeez, she's one annoying bitch. I see why Massie got out of here," Josh whispered to Plovert and Derrick.

They each nodded in agreement.

"Five bucks says Claire breaks up with Cam," Plovert said.

"Five bucks says that Cam breaks up with Claire," Derrick replied.

"And I'll hold your five bucks," Josh said.

Derrick and Plovert each handed Josh five bucks and watched Cam and Claire fight.

Again.

"I don't like her! Why would you think that?" Cam asked.

"Because, that's why you asked _her_ to be in your group and nawt me!" Claire cried.

"This is hilarious," Josh sighed.

Plovert smirked.

"Ehmagawd, I think they're about to break up," Dylan whispered to Alicia.

"Not ah-gain. This is too fucked up," Alicia hissed.

"That has nothing to do with it!" Cam shouted back.

"You know what? I am through with you, Cameron Fisher!" Claire shouted, her pain mixed with anger and frustration.

Plovert smirked and Josh handed both fives to Plovert and Derrick groaned.

"I was gong to buy some fries with that money," Derrick said.

"Well, now I can get some and eat it in front of you," Plovert smirked.

Tears streamed down Claire's face as she turned around and ran away from everyone. The Pretty Committee ran off to comfort her, after a slight hesitation, Kristen followed them.

Cam stayed rooted to the spot, watching where Claire had just run away to.

Derrick patted Cam on the back.

"Sucks to be you, Fisher," Derrick said.

And with that, the boys went off in search of adventure and French fries.

*

**I hope that didn't suck. Reviews make me update quicker (:**


	4. The Bet

**A/N: **Long time no update. You know, for some odd reason I really like this fic, ahahaha. Sorry I haven't updated in forever but I've been super busy. And to **AnonymousFansInAlabama **I also live for cookies! But fries are delicious too. Ahaha. I'm loving all of these reviews! Well, here goes the chapter you've all been waiting for! Oh, and I apologize, but massie is sort of bitchy. And I swear a lot. Well, not a lot, but there is swearing in here, so be warned.

**Currently Listening To: **Brick by Boring Brick - Paramore

*

Massie Block was sitting by herself at the food court in the mall, feeding herself some fries. She smiled as she let the deep-fried potatoes covered in salt made her taste buds erupt. Why had she not let herself eat these before? Oh, right. Because they were so full of fat, just like the Pretty Committee was so full of shit.

She rolled her eyes at the thought and finished off her delicious fries.

And that's when she heard the laughter of Derrick Harrington.

Massie flinched inwardly. She still liked Derrick more than she would have liked to admit to anyone and it hurt her a lot when she found out about Derrick and Alicia. She mentally slapped herself, like she had to do almost every single time she was near Derrick. She had to be in control of herself. She had to harden her heart.

Because this was the way that Massie Block had to be.

She couldn't let herself get hurt again. She couldn't let herself be viewed as weak anymore. She would not let herself shed any tears over a boy who would cheat on her or hurt her this much. She would not let herself back down from this battle in her heart.

But only because she was Massie Block, and this is what Block's did.

If only there was someone who could melt Massie's ice-cold heart.

*

Cam Fisher was reluctantly following his friend Derrick, Josh, Plovert and Kemp through the mall so that they could go buy the new Call of Duty, which Cam already had since his dad got it for him the night previous even though it just came out this morning.

"Hurry up, guys, I could be playing _right now_ but no! You guys had to drag me here!" Cam whined.

"Dude, if you have Call of Duty, then we have to go buy it too. Plus, I heard the new one is gonna be awesome!" Kemp said.

"It is," Cam replied matter-of-factly.

Plovert snicker punched him.

"Why don't you go get us some food if you don't wanna wait for us to get our game, Cammie boy?" Derrick suggested.

"Sounds good to me, I need some rest anyway," Cam said.

"Yeah, because you stayed up all night playing Call of Duty without us!" Josh shouted while Derrick laughed.

Cam smirked.

"You know it," he said before he took off in the direction of the food court.

*

Massie closed her amber eyes and started to dream about a happily-ever-after with Derrick Harrington when she heard someone sit down next to her. She opened her eyes to see who had disturbed her pleasant fantasy.

But she only rolled her eyes she saw that it was none other than Cameron Fisher.

Massie sighed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"What does it look like?" he replied as he took a bite of his hamburger.

"No, I mean why are you sitting here, don't you have friends?" Massie asked.

Cam looked at her oddly.

"We are friends," he replied.

Massie looked at him curiously.

"Why are you at the mall by yourself?" she asked him. "Shopping for an apology present for Claire?"

"Hey!" Cam said, "How did you know we broke up?"

Massie just smirked at him.

"It was pretty obvious that it was going to happen today after Lit." Massie replied. "And besides, you two break up all of the time. But _you_ always go crawling back to her because you _need_ her, right?"

It wasn't that Massie didn't like Cam, it was just that Massie did not feel like being bothered by a boy who was madly in love with her ex-best friend who still hated her with a burning passion.

"I don't _need_ her," Cam argued, "and I'm not here for her."

Massie raised an eyebrow at him.

"Then why are you here?" Massie asked rather rudely.

"Kemp, Plovert, Derrick and Josh are getting Call of Duty," Cam replied.

"That's it?" Massie asked.

"Yeah," Cam said.

Massie snorted.

"What?" Cam asked.

"And I was sure you were here for Claire," Massie said.

"Yeah, well, you were wrong," Cam replied.

"I guess I was," said Massie. "But I bet you'll get back with Claire within two weeks."

Cam looked at her.

"You wanna bet?" he challenged.

"Alright," Massie said.

"I bet five dollars," Cam said.

"Only five? How about fifty?" Massie argued.

"Well, since we're not poor…I'll bet you fifty then," Cam said.

"Wonderful," Massie said.

Massie and Cam shook on it.

"Get ready to lose, Fisher," Massie said.

"Don't count on it, Block," Cam teased.

"Puh-lease. Block's never lose," she replied.

The two smiled at each other for a bit and Massie couldn't help but notice how cute Cam looked with his two different colored eyes and dark hair. It made his look…sort of mysterious. It was quite sexy. And Cam, being full of raging hormones, couldn't help but notice that Massie was indeed beautiful. He wondered why Derrick had broken up with her.

Cam's phone started to ring.

_The dawn is breaking, a light shining through. You're barely waking and I'm tangled up in you, yeah-_

"Hello?" Cam answered.

"Cam! I'm so sorry! I don't know why I yelled at you. I know that you would never try to get with Massie Block instead of me and I miss you so much! I'm sooo sorry!" the voice on the other end of the phone cried.

"Is it Claire?" Massie mouthed.

Cam nodded.

Massie smirked.

"Speaker?" She mouthed to him.

He nodded again and put it on speaker so that she could hear whether or not him and Claire would get back together and who would owe who fifty bucks.

"Umm…" Cam started, but he didn't know what to say this time since he couldn't say that it was okay and that they could get back together. Besides, he wasn't sure if he wanted to either.

"Cam, did you hear me?" Claire asked.

"Yeah," Cam replied.

"So…how about it? Wanna get back together?" Claire asked desperately.

"Claire, I…we can't. You and me…it's just not going to work out. I can't stand the fact that we keep fighting with each other and stuff and you keep hanging out with Alicia and the rest of your friends instead of me, so I just…we can't do this anymore, because I just can't take it," Cam said.

"But Cam!" Claire shouted.

"Goodbye, Claire," Cam said right before he hung up the phone. Surprisingly, he wasn't that upset by what had just happened.

He looked at Massie.

"Wow, Cammie boy. Keep it up for another two weeks and you'll get your fifty bucks," Massie smiled.

"Yeah…" Cam replied.

Massie checked her watch.

"Well, I've got to go, Cam. It was…nice…seeing you. I've got to get to work so…later," Massie said.

"Bye," he replied.

Massie smiled and turned around and started to walk away.

And Cameron Fisher could not help but stare at the place where Massie had just been.

*

**What do you think?**

**It's sort of short, but oh well. **

**Yeah, I was like a bitch in this chapter.**

**Review!**

**Ciao.**

**One of the Fallen**


	5. Only A Weak Man Hides His Tears

**A/N: **Mwuahahaha, I'm updating. It's been too long, loves, but I've got a life to attend to. And I have just thought up the pairings for the rest of the story. Guess who that quote below is from and you'll get a special shout out ;D

**Currently Listening To: **She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5

*

_Words build bridges into unexplored regions. _

*

**C**laire **L**yons had left Cam 76 text messages and 23 voice mails, all begging him to be hers. All of them had been deleted, unread. Cam knew that if he read just _one_ of them, he would be drawn back to Claire. Not because he liked her, but because of pity, which would eventually grow into a small amount of affection, and not for the first time.

But he couldn't get back with Claire because of the bet he had made with Massie. But that wasn't the only reason. It was just one of the reasons that Cameron Fisher was willing to admit to.

The _ding dong! _of the front door removed Cam from his thoughts about Claire and the ones that he was hiding, from both himself and his friends, about Massie.

_That had better not be Claire_, Cam begged silently.

It wasn't.

Actually, it was someone whom he did _not_ expect to show up at his house.

Not now anyway.

*

**M**assie **B**lock didn't know why she felt compelled to sneak out of her house and escape to the Fisher residence. She just felt that it was important to go.

And it probably was.

She quickly ran up Cam's driveway and stood in the doorway. Involuntarily, Massie combed through her hair with her pale fingers and pinched her cheeks since she didn't have any blush on her. Then she stopped, realizing that something was wrong. Why the hell did she care if Cam saw her like this? It's not like she liked him...

Massie shook the thought from her mind and rang the doorbell. After a moment, Harris Fisher, Cam's hawter, older brother, who was _supposed_ to be at collage right now, showed up.

"Hey," he said, looking her up and down.

Massie wrinkled her nose. _Pervert._

"Is Cam here?" she quickly asked, not wanting to be by Harris.

He nodded.

"He's upstairs, locked up in his room," Harris replied.

"Thanks," Massie nodded before starting off for the stairs and towards the end of the hall where she knew Cam's room was. She rapped the door with her knuckles until Cam came to the door. When he saw her, he gave a surprised expression and smirked.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"Nothing, really. I was just bored," Massie replied, not knowing for sure if it was a lie or not.

Cam just nodded his head and invited Massie into his room that wasn't very messy. She immediately thought of Derrick's room and how dirty it was and she flinched as though someone had punched her in the stomach.

It hurt to think of the past.

"So umm..." Cam started.

"Were you busy?" Massie asked quickly, not wanting to have interrupted anything that Cam was doing. "Because if you were, I can...um...leave."

"What?" Cam asked incredulously. "No I wasn't busy. I was just...I wasn't doing anything."

Massie nodded.

"So...about Claire...has she...umm...have you...uh..." Massie started, she knew she sounded stupid, but she didn't knnow what to ask exactly.

"Well, she's called and left me a bunch of voicemails and I got a bunch of texts from her, but I didn't give in. Not yet anyway, and I hope that I don't because I don't know if I'll be able to take this anymore," Cam replied.

"What do you mean?" Massie wrinkled her eyebrows.

Cam sighed.

"It's...nothing," Cam replied tersely.

Massie stared at him for a few moments, staring at his face that was filled with stress and confusion.

"You can tell me Cam, it's not like I have anyone to tell. Well, except Bean," Massie said.

Cam seemed to have smiled, but Massie couldn't tell, for it had disappeared as quickly as it had come. After a few moments of silence, Massie decided to just drop the subject if he didn't want to talk about it and was about to say something else, anything else, to distract him from Claire and all of his other problems, when he spoke.

"I don't know what to do," he finally admitted. "I don't know how I feel about her anymore. I think that I used to love her, but then she became something else. Something like...like what _you_ used to be. I didn't know what to do, so I broke up with her, and then she came crying to me, begging me to take her back, telling me that she changed, but she didn't. And I broke up with her again, but only to take her back again. It's been going on over and over again and I don't know if I can take it anymore. I don't want to be with her if she's going to be like that. I don't think that I could ever love someone like that, but I feel like a terrible person for leaving her. I feel so bad for not even _reading_ those texts or just listening to her voice, but I know that I don't love her, at least I don't think so. I know that just hearing her cry or seeing her so upset would drive me right back to her and I don't want that, but I feel so empty, so hollow, without her"

Massie stared at the boy who was now sitting next to her. She watched his eyes begin to glaze over and she watched as he let loose a single tear that contained much of his stress, anxiety and his pain and hunger for freedom.

Cam chuckled humorlessly.

"I know that I'm weak for crying or whatever, but I just...I don't know..." he said.

Massie inhaled sharply and pulled his head to rest of her chest, stroking his jet black hair.

"Only a weak man hides his tears," Massie whispered into his ear. "Trust me on this."

So there he lay, upon her chest, letting a few more tears slip through his eyelids as he rested. He never knew that Massie could be so comforting. He never knew this side of her. He guessed that he never really knew her at all. But just being with her, it made him feel so...so complete when he had felt so empty before. He didn't know what this knew feelings was that seemed to be arising deep inside of his heart, making it beat faster and faster. He was glad that he had let her know how he felt, because it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He almost felt free.

Almost.

*

**Review.**


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